Neymar ‘Signed For PSG In June’

Row Over Neymar Commission Continues

Former Barcelona striker Neymar is claiming that he is due a €26million (£23.4million) bonus from the La Liga club as the row over the payment rumbles on.

Neymar – or, more accurately, his father – was due the payment under the terms of the contract he signed with Barcelona last summer. The payment was due on 31 July and was the difference between his former release fee of €196million and the revised release fee of €222million which Paris Saint-Germain paid early in August.

Barcelona have lodged the payment with a firm of local solicitors while the row rumbles on. Neymar claims the money should be paid over and a lawyer representing the new PSG player states that the Brazilian maintained a good relationship with the club. Barcelona are claiming the fee should be reduced by at least four-fifths: Neymar signed a five-year deal in July 2016 and left one year into that deal.

But reports from Portugal today are making the claim that Neymar actually signed his contract with PSG at the end of June.

Correio da Manha reports that his contrct was signed over a month earlier than had been previously though. But it adds that no fewer than six agents were involved in the Neymar deal: Pini Zahavi, Marcelo Simoniam, Juan Figer, Wagner Ribeiro, Mohamed Afzal and Humberto Paiva. The news hasn’t gone down well in France as none of the agents are French. Ribeiro and Paiva are Brazilians, Zahavi is Israeli, Simonian is Argentine, Figer is Uruguayan and Afzal is Portugese.

But if Neymar can be shown to have signed for PSG before the end of July then his father won’t be due the €26million. The insinuation is that the transfer was deliberately delayed until 2 August so Neymar senior could pick up his money.

Mounting disaffection in France with new PSG sporting director Antero Henrique is rooted in him dismissing seven employees and replacing them with people he has brought in from his former club FC Porto where he was vice-president. One of the new faces was Paiva, an agent as well as – until May – one of the sporting directors at Belgian side Mouscron.